Atlanta Braves Need to Figure Out Shohei Ohtani to Save Playoff Hopes

Shohei Ohtani tore up the Atlanta Braves in their last meet up in May. They need to figure him out as the season depends on beating him and the Dodgers.

Shohei Ohtani was a key bat in the previous series against the Atlanta Braves, Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves head home for a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two notable teams come together for what could be must-see TV. However, the last time the two teams met, it was far from that. Braves fans had trouble watching pretty quickly. 

The Dodgers swept the Braves and outscored them 20-6 in the three-game series. Only one of them, the series opener, was even a ballgame as opposed to a foregone conclusion. 

A huge reason for the beating was Shohei Ohtani. That shouldn’t surprise too many people, but the numbers he put up were staggering. He’s been a Braves killer the last two seasons and kicked it up a notch in 2024.

During the series in Los Angeles, Ohtani went 8-for-12 (.667) with a 2.131 OPS with three home runs, six RBIs and two stolen bases. 

In the 4-3 loss in extras to open the series, Ohtani’s game-tying single in the 10th gave the Dodgers the chance to walk it off an inning later. In the 5-1 loss in the series finale, he was involved in all five runs. He drove in three and was driven in twice. 

If the Braves want to have any shot at winning this series and keep their postseason hopes alive, they need to beat Ohtani.

So, What Can Be Done to Beat Shohei Ohtani? 

Much of this falls into the hands of Brian Snitker and the starting rotation. 

For Snitker, know which relievers to put in when he’s due up in the late innings. Believe it or not, there are some guys on this staff that Ohtani hasn’t been successful against. He’s never reached base against Jesse Chavez in five plate appearances. He's also hitless against Aaron Bummer in eight at-bats, reaching base just once in nine plate appearances. These are two examples of guys who have faced Ohtani more than twice and still were successful.

That's not to say Raisel Iglesias isn’t a good option, even after giving up the aforementioned game-tying single. It’s just these guys have the track record. At least have them ready to go. 

As for the rotation, they’re pitching the bulk of the innings and will see Ohtani the most. They need to be ready. Charlie Morton has held Ohtani to a slash line of .111/.385/.111, and that OBP is propped up by two hit by pitches. Whatever, he’s doing, keep it up. 

The others, well, it gets a little tougher. Max Fried was eaten alive when they faced off earlier this year - 3-for-3 with a home run. Meanwhile, Spencer Schwellenbach has never faced Ohtani, and Chris Sale hasn’t seen him since 2019. There is nothing really to go off of for them.

The problem for Fried is his top three most used pitches are the four-seem fastball, curveball and sinker. According to FanGraphs, those are three of the four pitches Ohtani has the highest OPS against this season.  

For the record, there is no pitch Ohtani is necessarily bad at hitting. But there are some pitches these guys could opt for that could be their best bet. Ohtani has a high strikeout rate (31.2%) and a low walk rate (7.1%) against the slider. That’s perfect for Sale, that's his bread and butter, and for Schwellench, whose go-to breaking pitch is the slider. 

Another pitch is the cutter, he has a .845 OPS against this pitch, which is subpar by his standards. Schwellenbach uses a cutter frequently, and Fried has one in his arsenal. This could be a chance to flash an underutilized pitch. 

If he gets a piece of it, he’ll make you pay, but here's a chance to play the odds game and potentially beat him.

Lastly, this one is obvious and good luck to them when trying to do this, but if Ohtani gets behind in the count, he only bats .220 with a .670 OPS and bats .188 with a .643 OPS with two strikes. None of this is profound, but might as well point it out. That’s just how baseball works. 

It’s a tough task, but it can be done. You would like to think having something to fight for, a spot in the postseason, can give them that needed boost to pull it off. 

The Braves start their series with the Dodgers on Friday. Schwellenbach is up first. First pitch is set for 7:20 p.m.